“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim 1:12).
It’s not time that tells the tale; it’s eternity. Paul was suffering loss in this life, but he had the confidence that whatever went into the Loss column here for Christ would end up in the Profit column There.
Li Hung-chang was an earl, viceroy, ambassador, prime minister, commander of the army, and “Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.” When he arrived in New York in 1896, he had with him 18 aides, 22 servants, 300 suitcases, cages of songbirds, and a supply of hundred-year-old eggs for dinner. President Cleveland showed up, with ten battleships, two cruisers, and the Sixth U.S. Cavalry. Big deal! They’re all gone now, but Paul and all who love Christ’s appearing “will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13:43). Even so, come, Lord Jesus!